Fox News host Laura Ingraham told her viewers on The Ingraham Angle Friday that the soon-to-be-released Neil Armstrong biopic is “trashing patriotism” because it leaves out the moment when the American flag is placed on the moon.
“It’s another way of trashing patriotism,” Ingraham said Friday evening. “It’s another way of moving beyond the nationalism, or nationalistic spirit of the moment.”
Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo echoed Ingraham’s statement, saying the upcoming movie, First Man, plays fast and loose with the facts.
“My feeling is, you’re doing a biopic, stick to the facts,” Arroyo said. “He planted an American flag. Plant an American flag.”
Ingraham’s comments came after Ryan Gosling, the Canadian actor who plays Armstrong in First Man, said in a recent interview that the American moon landing scene omits the part where Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stand with the American flag on the moon because the accomplishment “transcends American borders.”
Gosling added that the feat was a “human achievement” and not an American one, acknowledging he had a “cognitive bias” due to his Canadian background.
Many people on Twitter, including media figures, politicians, and other celebrities, have shared their disgust with the producers’ decision to omit the scene:
Some users even began the Twitter hashtag #BoycottFirstMan to encourage Americans to boycott the movie when it is released in theaters.
First Man, which is about the 1969 moon landing, is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 12, 2018.